DINGELL DEMANDS ANSWERS ON MSK’S CONFLICTS OF INTEREST: Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) is pushing Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center for details on the data it shared with Paige.AI, an artificial intelligence company that had exclusive access to about 25 million of the center’s patient tissue slides.

Story Continued Below

Memorial Sloan Kettering has a stake in the company, and a few of its board members are listed as investors in the company, according to reporting from ProPublica and The New York Times.

“While this tissue slide images appears to have been anonymized there are still serious concerns about patient privacy and the degree of consent patients have given regarding the reuse and distribution of their information,” Dingell says in her letter to MSK. The lawmaker asks whether Memorial Sloan Kettering has similar agreements with other companies, and whether patients can opt out of sharing their records.

ONE MATCHMAKER TO RULE THEM ALL AND IN THE DARKNESS BIND THEM: A new Pew reportproposes that a single organization oversee a nationwide strategy for matching patients’ disparate records to each other. The authors acknowledge that “no solution currently exists that could achieve perfect — or even near-perfect — match rates for all patients, but actions can be taken to better link records.”

They also suggest launching new smartphone-based pilots that would allow patients to help match their own records. Authors will be speaking about the report later today.

eHealth Tweet thread of the day: Lisa Bari @lisabari Even if you want to believe that providers aren't actively trying to harm patients, what happens when you go to see a specialist, get tests that would result in the need for an immediate intervention, but there's no follow up? The data lives in a silo, no one is alerted.

This is a trivial issue, based on the technology. The simplest thing, barring a national HIE, would just be for the specialist to send a direct message to the PCP with the information, as well as the patient. But it rarely, if ever, happens.

Of course the specialist is on EHR 1, the PCP on EHR 2 (instance 1), the urgent care clinic on EHR 2 (instance 2), and none of these systems are exchanging data. This experience x 1000000 every single day.

WHAT ROLE CAN TECHNOLOGY AND DIGITAL TOOLS PLAY in improving prevention and treatment of diabetes and curbing the opioid epidemic? Join POLITICO Live for a two-panel conversation with policymakers, federal officials, and technology and health experts to better understand what is already working and what is still needed to address these two massive health care challenges. RSVP here.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP SAYS A RED WAVE IS COMING ON ELECTION DAY. Is he right or will the tide turn blue? Compete against the nation’s top political minds in the POLITICO Playbook Election Challenge, by correctly picking the winning candidates in some of the most competitive House, Senate and gubernatorial races in the country! Win awesome prizes and eternal bragging rights. Sign up today! Visit politico.com/playbookelectionchallenge to play.

IT LEADERS WANT MORE OPIOIDS WORK: Congress’ emerging opioids bill is a solid step forward — but much more is needed to address the vast scale of the addiction problem, health IT policy leaders argued in a lunchtime event on the Hill. Brian Scarpelli, a policy leader for ACT | The App Association, saluted the bill’s “narrow wins” on telemedicine, but said he hoped “folks in this room will help advocate for broader solutions.” eHealth Initiative and Health IT Now officials argued for greater data-sharing despite the disappointing failure of the bill to overhaul to 42 CFR Part 2 provisions.

FDA GETS ON THE ISAO TRAIN: The Food and Drug Administration will soon establish information-sharing organizations to crack down on digital weakness in medical devices — a model DHS promoted after a 2015 cybersecurity-themed executive order.

“Securing medical devices from cybersecurity threats cannot be achieved by just the #FDA alone. Every stakeholder — manufacturers, hospitals, health care providers, cybersecurity researchers and govt entities — all have a unique role to play in addressing these modern challenges,” Commissioner Scott Gottlieb tweeted as part of thread Monday.

Morning eHealth’s Darius Tahir reports that the information-sharing analysis organizations, or ISAOs, will include established cybersecurity groups like Sensato and NH-ISAC.

Gottlieb said the agency would also sign a memorandum of agreement to coordinate with DHS. The agency, along with MITRE, released a playbook walking providers through digital attack response. Pros can read the rest of Darius’ story here.

MEDICARE LAUNCHES OUT-OF-POCKET CALCULATOR APP: CMS is expanding its website and is unveiling a mobile app designed to help Medicare beneficiaries choose plans by providing cost estimates for people with different levels of medical need, Morning eHealth’s Arthur Allen reports.

The “eMedicare Initiative” also provides an out-of-pocket calculator and online webchat for beneficiaries who go online to pick their plans during the open enrollment period starting Oct. 15. CMS won't eliminate any existing services such as phone help centers, Administrator Seema Verma told reporters.

The Council for Affordable Health Coverage — a sister group to lobbying organization Health IT Now — says the new features reflect recommendations it made in the spring. “We pressed administration officials for swift action ahead of the open enrollment season to improve consumers' online experience, and they have made important strides towards that goal," CAHC President Joel White said in a news release.

Verma denied that the web platform was aimed at steering beneficiaries to Medicare Advantage, as some have accused the administration of doing. "There is absolutely no attempt to steer anyone anywhere," Verma said. "We think it's very important for our beneficiaries to make choices that work best for them." Pros can read the rest of Arthur’s story here.

CALIFORNIA LAW REQUIRING DRUG DATABASE CHECK GOES INTO EFFECT: Starting today, California doctors will have to consult the state’s prescription drug monitoring database — the Controlled Substance Utilization Review and Evaluation System, or CURES — before prescribing opioids and other potentially addictive drugs. The idea is to help cut down on doctor shopping, overprescribing and unsafe medication combinations.

The law, which was signed by Gov. Jerry Brown in 2016, covers prescriptions for Schedule II to Schedule IV drugs, including oxycodone, diazepam, codeine and fentanyl. Other states, including New York, Kentucky and Tennessee, also require drug database consultation before ordering.

ONC REPORTS HIGH FHIR ADOPTION RATE: About 82 percent of hospitals and 64 percent of clinicians are using EHR software with the FHIR standard, Darius reports.

The figures represent rapid adoption of the open API standard, considered the cutting-edge technology in enabling easier data-sharing. FHIR has been used in Apple's health records app, and other developers and institutions are considering how to use the standard to access health data more efficiently, according to the post from ONC officials Steven Posner and Wes Barker. Pros can read the rest from Darius here.

FEDBIZOPPS FINDINGS: The federal government is making some noteworthy investments in health IT. A few that caught our attention:

— The Defense Department plans to sole-source a contract to Fitbit for more than 500 fitness trackers for a remote monitoring pilot offered to patients at the Brooke Army Medical Center and Walter Reed. The project is overseen by the Medical Research and Materiel Command Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center.

— The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is looking for companies to commercialize a wearable disposable sensor that could transmit a patient’s vital signs — potentially useful for emergency responders in triaging patients.

— HHS’ Health Resources and Services Administration recently awarded the American Academy of Family Physicians a contract for its Uniform Data System mapping tool, which could highlight areas lacking primary health care services.

PA BILL CALLS FOR MENTAL HEALTH, TELEMEDICINE STUDY: A bill introduced by Pennsylvania state Rep. Helen Tai directs the Joint State Government Commission to conduct a study on the mental health provider shortage in the state and ways in which telemedicine could alleviate that shortage in rural areas.

— The Electronic Health Records Association noted that “the ISA is not a tool our membership uses frequently” but that it is a “ helpful library for those becoming familiar with the interoperability landscape.”

— HealthIT Now said the document “can and should be more integrated into federal health IT programs, including in new rulemaking.”

WHAT WE’RE CLICKING ON:

— The New York Times’ Austin Frakt examines the efficacy of ride sharing in cutting medical costs

— The Associated Press writes about Tasuku Honjo and James Allison’s Nobel Prize for their immunology research

** A message from Express Scripts: How can data, technology and innovative clinical programs create a sustainable future for pharmacy plans while preserving choice and access for patients? Learn more.**